One of the most annoying cliches in Hollywood romantic comedies
consists of an ugly duckling being transformed into beauty by the
end of the film. Even the slightest variation of this cliche is bound
to look refreshing to those tired of formulas. Naturally, such
refreshments are very rare in modern Hollywood, and when they
come, they are usually produced outside USA. MURIEL'S
WEDDING, 1994 Australian comedy directed by P.J. Hogan, is one
of such films.

Heroine of the film is Muriel Heslop (played by Toni Collette),
young, overweight and not particularly bright woman who spends
her life in Porpoise Spit, small town in Northern Australia that is
paradise for visiting tourists and hell for those who must stay there
all year long. Muriel's father Bill (played by Bill Hunter) is corrupt
politician and unfaithful husband whose children turned into
slackers and couch potatoes. Muriel is one of them - ignored by
family and shunned by the clique of former high school mates who
she considers to be friends, out of work and never having a date in
her whole life, she finds solace in "Abba" songs and dreams of
marriage. One day, when her "friends" shun her for the last time
by going together on tropical vacation, Muriel decides to steals
her father's money and go there by herself. Accidental meeting
with former high school outcast Rhonda (played by Rachel
Griffiths) would give new direction to her life. Free-spirited Rhonda
becomes her best friend and two of them travel to Sydney where
Muriel tries to make her dreams come true.

MURIEL'S WEDDING gives the spin to the Hollywood's "ugly
duckling" cliche simply by being realistic. Title character is not
going to be magically transformed into superbeauty by cheap
make-over. She is ugly and she remains ugly until the end, not only
in physical but also in psychological sense - she is not only stupid,
but selfish and more than able to create misery to people around
herself. Yet, writer and director Hogan manages to create viewer's
sympathy to this pathetic character by confronting her with even
uglier world of corruption, hypocrisy and cruelty, best embodied in
the oppressive and hopeless atmosphere of small town. Compared
to all that, Muriel, even with all her shortcomings, looks like a true
hero, and her rebellion looks like a worthy cause. Unfortunately,
Hogan was unable to keep his satirical edge throughout the whole
movie and somewhere in the middle darkness of his humour is
replaced by the cheap melodrama. The switch is not only too
abrupt and unnatural, but the characters also begin to act
illogically until the bitter-sweet ending.

MURIEL'S WEDDING, hailed as one of the "cool" Australian
comedies of its time, might be overrated, but it is still example of
good filmmaking. Hogan was fortunate to employ talents of
excellent cast. His leading lady Toni Colette spared no effort to
make her character as unattractive as possible (gaining weight
that few of her Hollywood colleagues would dare to do), yet she
shines in the role that would facilitate her career in Hollywood.
Rachel Griffiths is also good in the very demanding role of Rhonda.
Hogan also cared a lot about sights and sounds in this film. In the
latter he was aided by the efforts of Peter Best, as well as "Abba"
songs who act like some kind of Greek chorus, most notably in the
excellent scene of "Waterloo" lip-synching. In the end, even those
who don't care about 1970s pop or annoying Hollywood cliches
would probably find MURIEL'S WEDDING to be entertaining
experience.